Sepsis Awareness Month - the main symptoms: Newbury woman, Beth Budgen, tells how the condition devastated her life, in a bid to save others

A Newbury woman who was left a quad-amputee after spending months in a coma, is calling on everyone to be aware of the symptoms of sepsis, writes Ollie Basham.

Beth Budgen, 47, was rushed to hospital from her sister’s house in Newbury on Christmas Day 2022 and said she was lucky to survive after infection ravaged her body.

She had to have both her legs amputated below the knee, lost the tops of her fingers on one hand and most of her fingers on the other.

But the former St Bartholomew’s School student remains positive about the future and is now telling the story about how sepsis devastated her life, in a bid to try to save others.

Sepsis is a reaction that can be caused by any form of infection. It is often life-threatening, killing more people than cancer in the UK annually.

Beth was taken to hospital with symptoms of flu and pneumonia and after 12 hours of being in Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital all of her organs started to shut down. She said she then developed Strep A, which then led to sepsis.

By Boxing Day, her family, who all live in Newbury, were told to come to say goodbye to her, as her condition continued to deteriorate.

She said she was lucky to have been close enough to an external life support machine called an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine (ECMO), which was brought to Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital.

There are just a handful of ECMO machines in the country and they are used when traditional forms of life support aren’t working.

Beth was soon rushed to Guy’s and St Thomas Hospital in London which she said “saved my life”.

She spent two months in a coma in the London hospital before being transferred to Winchester Hospital and spending a further two weeks in a coma there.

Just days after waking up, Beth was given the devastating news that she would have to have both of her legs removed below the knee, as well as most of her right hand and all the fingertips on her left hand.

She was left needing dialysis three times a week, visited eight separate hospitals during her treatment and recovery and spent seven weeks in rehab, learning to walk again.

Beth, who was a “fit and healthy” director of service delivery before she fell ill, has now opened up to Newburytoday during sepsis awareness month about her experience and said she hopes her story can help save others from the sepsis “health crisis”.

She said before she fell ill, she “couldn’t tell you what sepsis was and how prevalent it is across the country”, but she now knows that five people die from the disease every hour, making it one of the most prominent causes of death in the UK.

“Any type of infection can lead to sepsis; it’s quite scary stuff,” she added. “The symptoms of sepsis aren’t something that would necessarily ring alarm bells.

“Sepsis is really difficult to diagnose in patients, even now. In the research they are trying to develop blood tests, trying to see if there are genetic predispositions.

“There’s a lot of work to be done and it really is such an important thing.

“Before it happened to me I had no idea just how prevalent it is and the absolute havoc it can wreak on people’s lives.”

Beth, who was an avid swimmer before her illness, began researching sepsis and discovered Sepsis Research FEAT, which is based in Glasgow and is the only UK charity that funds research into sepsis.

She is now on the charity’s board of trustees and is trying to raise awareness of sepsis, as well as raising the profile and vital funds for research.

She said that she has heard accounts from people who have developed sepsis after being turned away from doctors and hospitals as they “didn’t present as ill enough”.

Beth added that she has also been out of work since February 2023 after being made redundant while undergoing treatment. Although Beth has been trying to find work, she said that “society isn’t set up for disabled people”.

She said that awareness of sepsis is increasing in the UK, with notable people such as Craig Mackinlay, the UK’s first ‘Bionic MP’, and Tony Blackburn, a veteran BBC radio DJ, sharing their personal stories and the “shock factor” that comes with seeing the damage sepsis can cause.

Beth is now urging anyone who feels that something is wrong with them or a loved one to just “make a fuss”. She is also hoping to raise awareness of the five main symptoms.

They are: An extremely high or low temperature; shivering; little to no urination in 24 hours; skin blotches on the arms and legs; and confusion.

She is currently preparing for a holiday to the Maldives with her elder sister Andrea, which they were due to take while she was in hospital.

“I’m trying not to set limitations for myself, but there are now additional layers of complexity in life,” she added.